Thursday 6 June 2024
She said to her, “All that you tell me I will do.”(v. 5)
Background
Today we continue the story of Ruth and Naomi. Two months have past since yesterday's passage: that's how long it took to harvest the barley and the wheat. Food was plentiful during that time, especially as Ruth could glean (gather the dropped corn) behind the servant girls of Boaz, but even so this would not last forever.
Determined to secure a future for herself and her daughter-in-law Ruth, Naomi comes up with a plan. Although she says it is for Ruth's own good (verse 1), it is obvious that Naomi will benefit too. Ruth is told to smarten herself up and get dressed, then go to the threshing room and lay down with Boaz on the floor. Then Boaz will tell her what to do.
Ruth takes the initiative and tells Boaz to spread his cloak over her (verse 9). We know from Ezekiel 16:8 that her actions were a form of marriage proposal. Boaz accepts and sends Ruth home with barley rather than jewellery, but the point is that he is promising to take care of her (Ruth 3:15-17).
Reading this passage, the question arises - to what extent do we have to be obedient, just as Ruth was to Naomi? And then to what extent do we have to take the initiative (as Ruth did with Boaz)? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says "Ask, and it will be given you; search and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you" (Matthew 7:7). It is up to each individual to take some initiative – asking, searching, knocking. And then in the next verse Jesus gives the reassurance that "everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches will find, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened". And if your read to the end of the book of Ruth, you will discover that these words hold true.
To Ponder:
- What part does obedience play in your relationship with God?
- To what extent do you have to take the initiative in your relationship with God? Or in responding to the love and care of God?
First published in 2014.